Latch device for holding automobile and other doors in ventilating position.



1. e. LYDECKER LATCH DEVICE FOR HOLDING AUTOMOBILE AND OTHER DOORS INVENTILATING POSITION.

APPLICATION FILED IULY 28, I914. 1,151,889. Patented. Aug. 31, 1915.

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JOHN GEOBGE LYDEGKER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

-. LATCH DEVICE FOR HOLDING AUTOMOBILE AND OTHER DOORS IN VENTILATINGPOSITION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 31, 1915.

Application filedll'uly 28, 1914. Serial No. 853,632.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN GEORGE LY;- DECKER, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at New York, in the county ofNew York and State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Latch Devicesfor Holding Automobile and other Doors in Ventilating Position, of

.which the following is a specification, reference being had therein tothe accompanying drawing.

This inventlon relates to a latch device for holding automobile andother doors in ventilating position, the object being to'provide asimple and effective device for preventing the over-heating ofautomobiles and similar vehicles, particularly in summer Weather.

The invention consists essentially in a device for holding the side doorof the car frame in an open position, the opening being greater or less,as desired, so that a current of air may be allowed to circulate intoand through the car, due to the rapid motion of the car through the air,and such circulation having the function tending to counteract the heatderived from the motor as well as that from the hot atmosphere, and,hence, causing a considerable reduction in the temperature of theinterior of the car where the occupants are sitting.

The invention, therefore, consists essentially in the construction,arrangement and combination of parts, substantially as will behereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing illustrating my invention, Figure 1 is aplan View of an automobile door and a portion of the side of the car,said door being held inan open position by means of my improved device.Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail plan view of the device. Fig. 8 is a sideview of the same. Fig. 4; is a longitudinal section.

Similar characters of reference designate corresponding parts throughoutthe different figures of the drawing.

For purposes of illustration, A denotes the side of anautomobileadjoining the door 0, which latter is hinged at a to anotherportion B of the vehicle body or frame. The door C swings toward andaway from the side A. In order to create a current of'air from theoutside atmosphere through the interior of the body and thus produce acoollng eflect, it is desirable'to hold this door more or less ajar, andthis is accomplished by the latch device which constitutes my presentimprovement, it being, of course, necessary that the door C should befirmly and rigidly held inits open position. The latch device comprisestwo rods, 3 and l, which are fastened securely together, and which rodsare connected to the screweyes 1 and 2, screw-eye 1 being fastened tothe side A of the car, and screw-eye 2 being fastened to the inside ofthe door 0. The rods 3 andl are preferably of hollow form and are adjustably connected together so that the device may be lengthened orshortened. A rod 5 is secured in the end of the tubular rod 3'by meansof a pin 14:, and this rod 5 enters the tubular rod 4 and is adjustabletherein. The end of the rod 4 nearest the rod 3 is provided with one ormore slits at 15, and also has a screw thread 16 thereon, which isslightly conical and which is engaged by a nut, 6. The screwing or theunscrewing of the nut 6 tightens or loosens the compressible slit end ofthe rodl and thereby clamps said end upon the rod 5 or re leases'ittherefrom. Therefore, by a proper manipulation of the nut 6 and of theaforesaid parts, the device can be lengthened or shortened, the lengthof the connecting rod 5 permitting this,,as I have explained. Of

course, it will be obvious that a single rod can be employed, ifdesired, but such a rod if not provided with an extensible feature wouldonly permit the door to be opened for a specific predetermined distanceand would that is to say, the tubular rod 3, engages the screw-eye 1 onthe vehicle side A, while the other part of the device, the tubular rod4, engages the screw-eye 2 on the swinging door C. The engagement ineach case must be positive and rigid so that there will be no swinging,rattling, or chucking of the door. To do this, I provide the tubular rod3 and also the tubular rod 4 each with a spring catch. Inside the rod 3is a pin 11 having a curved end 12 which operates in connection with thecurved end 8 of theinterior of the rod and the adjacent slot 7 in therod, through which the screw-eye passes.

The pin 11 is urged toward the curved end 8 by a spring 13 interposedbetween the end of the pin 11 and the end of the fixed connecting rod 5.Furthermore, the sliding pin 11 is provided with a lateral projectingpin 10 working through a slot 9 in the side of the rod 3. By laying holdof the pin 9, the catch pin 11 can be moved away from the slot 7 andthus the screw-eye released. So much for the sliding catch in thetubular rod 3. A similar sliding catch is arranged in the end of theother rod 4. This latter catch consists of a movable pin 18, having acurved end 23 operating in conjunction with the curved end 22 of theinterior cavity in the rod 4, there being a slot 25 cut in the side ofthe rod 4 contiguous to the I curved end 22. The sliding pin 18 is alsoprovided with a lateral pin 19 working in a slot 20 in the rod 4 andused for the purpose of enabling the catch 18 to be released from itscontact with the screw-eye,

- which passes through the slot 21, and is engaged by the springactuated locking catch 18 when the parts are in operative position.Inside the rod 4 is a spring 17 pressing against the sliding catch 18and also bearing against an abutment within said rod, which may beformed in any desired manner, as, for instance, by means of a shortsection or pin 34 held in place by a cross pin 25 as shown in Fig. 4.

When the device is to be in operative position, it will be arranged asshown in Fig. 1, with the catch device 11 at one end engaging screw-eye1, the ring of which passes through the slot 7 and is held firmlybetween the curved end 8 in the interior of i 1 the rod 3 and the curvedend 12 of the pin 11; while at the other end of the device the springactuated pin 18 is locking against the ring of the screw-eye 2 whichpasses through the slot 21, and is firmly held it 3 .against the curvedend 22 of the interior of the rod and the curved end 23 of the pin 18.It will be obvious at a glance that the screw-eye 2 can readily bereleased and the catch disengaged therefrom by pushing back the pin 18,by laying hold of the pro-- ,jecting pin 19, and that similarly the pin11 can be disengaged from the screw-eye 1 by a catch at both ends may beemployed instead of two connecting rods which allow of an extensionfeature. Likewise, the shape and relative size of the various parts mayvary within wide limits. Obviously, the catch device may be used at oneor both ends. It can readily be omitted from one end, and the other endprovided simply with a perforation to engage the screw-eye withoutemploying the catch at more than one end.

Having thus described my invention,what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. A latch device for holding a door in open position to promote thecirculation of air and produce a cooling effect, consisting essentiallyin the combination of a hinged door and a frame, of a ring in the doorand a ring in the frame, and a connecting device slotted and having aninternal yielding catch at one or both ends for engaging the rings.

2. A device for holding a door in an open position to promotecirculation of air, consisting in the combination with a door and y aframe or body, of a rod composed of sections engaging each other so thatthe de vice is extensible, the end of each section provided with aninternal latch adapted to ,make a positive engagement with a ring orscrew-eye in the door and side of the body.

3. The combination with a door and the side of the frame, each providedwith a screw-eye, of a latch device carrying at each end an internalcatch,each end being slotted to receive the ring or screw-eye so that itwill be positively engaged by said internal catch and firmly locked soas to keep the door in rigid and open position.

4. The combination with a door and the side of the frame, of a screw-eyein each part, and a latch device connecting the screw-eyes, composed ofa tubular rod, a spring actuated sliding pin in one or both ends of saidrod, said pin having a prosecurely locked by the sliding pins.

5. The combination with a door and the side of the frame, of means forholding the doorin open position, composed of a tubular rod, having inthe end a cross slot and a curved interior Wall, and a spring actuatedpin having a curved end and located Within the tubular rod so that itWill engage means on the door passing through the slot, together withmeans for actuating said sliding pin from the outside of the tubularrod.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in the presence of twoWitnesses.

JOHN GEORGE LYDECKER.

Witnesses:

ELMER J. AUSTIN, E. M. BRYMAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five-cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

